The Last Jedi and its predecessor, 2015’s The Force Awakens, have been praised for having a female lead character and an ethnically diverse cast.

Yet the director’s chair has remained an all-male preserve, despite the woman in charge of the series – Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy – expressing a desire for it to have a female occupant “when the time is right“.

Star Wars directors to date

George Lucas (A New Hope, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith)

Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back)

Richard Marquand (Return of the Jedi)

JJ Abrams (The Force Awakens, Episode IX)

Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)

Rian Johnson (The Last Jedi)

Ron Howard (Solo: A Star Wars Story)

New additions to the Star Wars ensemble in The Last Jedi include Puerto Rican actor Benicio Del Toro and Kelly Marie Tran, the first Asian-American actress to have a lead role in the series.

Tran, 28, said she “felt at home” on the set despite being “this complete new person”, adding that she would be “reliving those moments we had on set for the rest of my life in my mind”.

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Media captionStar power: Princes turn out for Star Wars premiere

Rian Johnson, whose previous films include Brick and Looper, said it “felt good” for the franchise “to reflect the world a little more closely as it is today and how it looks around us”.

Yet he promised this would not extend to taking the series to Earth. He’s been invited to create a new Star Wars trilogy once the current trilogy concludes in 2019.

“In so far as it is within my power, I solemnly promise that Luke Skywalker will never fade up into modern-day New York, even though it would be a really funny fish-out-of-water story,” he joked.

Image copyrightDisney/Lucasfilm

Image caption
Kelly Marie Tran said she struggled not to cry when remembering her time on set

In The Last Jedi, Daisy Ridley’s character Rey is seen seeking tutelage from Luke, who is discovered living a reclusive existence on a remote planet called Ahch-To.

Her story unfolds in tandem with those of Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac), who are tasked with stopping the Resistance from being wiped out by the evil First Order.

Mark Hamill, who plays an ageing Luke, expressed admiration for the film’s younger cast members while admitting some disquiet over their roles in the film.

“I had to fight the irrational urge that it’s a bunch of strangers rummaging through my old toy box playing with my toys,” said the actor, who turned 66 in September.

“But basically at this age I’m happy to let the kids do the heavy lifting.”

Image copyrightDisney/Lucasfilm

Image caption
Hamill (right) had a small role in The Force Awakens but plays a larger part in its follow-up

The Star Wars franchise is one of the crown jewels of the Disney empire, which bought George Lucas’s production company in 2012 for $4.05bn (£3bn).

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